Famous Malawian gospel artist, Wendy Harawa has described the national carrier of the country was the worst airline in the world, saying the airline operates as a minibus after her flight was delayed for hours.
According to malawi24.com, the airline‘conceded’ the accusations that it departed Lilongwe for Harare.
Gospel artist Wendy Harawa yesterday fired deadly shots at Malawi Airlines for delaying her international trip.
Writing on her Facebook page, the singer has labelled the airline as the worst service provider she has ever done business with across Africa.
“I am a very patriotic person, but am sad to call Malawi Airlines the worst airline I have ever come across in Africa,” reads her post in part.
According to Harawa, her flight was delayed by many hours, and the relevant authority did not make any communication on the matter to the clients.
Harawa said she left home at around 7 am to catch a Malawi Airlines flight scheduled for 10:30 am only to find that the flight would leave at 4:30 pm. On check in, she was told the flight time had been updated to 19:30.
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She added that she asked the handler if the flight would make it and was told that it would leave in the evening. Harawa then went home to rest but was shocked when she got a call at 15:22 from the airline telling her go to the airport because they were about to close the doors of the plane.
“I answered am home why dint you call, lemme come quickly, my home is 15 to 20-minute drive. She said no we can’t wait for you and dropped my call as I expressed my anger. I am hurt and angry due to the time wasted and costs incurred,” she said.
In response to the matter, Malawi Airlines said they communicated to the client about the flight delay.
“All passengers booked for this flight were duly informed at check-in counters of the delay by our contracted ground handlers of the new planned operating times (but with caution of an early departure than the planned new flight)” reads the communication in part.
The Airlines added that they offloaded Harawa because she was not at the Airport terminal at the time of departure.
“After check-in, when flight delays as per industry practice, passengers are discouraged from leaving the airport
terminal just in case the aircraft becomes serviceable more quickly than expected. During flight boarding and a headcount, it was found that all checked-in passengers were on-board except one passenger Ms. Wendy Harawa was missing on board.
“Due to the time limitations, for someone to drive from town to Kamuzu International Airport, the airline decided to offload the passenger as any further delay would have meant misconnecting all other clients who had further flight connections out Harare and Lusaka,” the airline said.
Meanwhile, the airline has apologized to Puma for wrongly saying it’s the airline’s fuel supplier whose jet oil reserves have run dry.
In a press statement released earlier, it said it was forced to uplift return fuel tonnage as it departed Chileka (Blantyre) airport to take the plane back due fuel shortage at O.R. Tambo International Airport in South Africa.
It also claimed that Puma was facing fuel supply challenges.
The airline has, however, retracted the statement and has clarified that its fuel supplier in Johannesburg is not Puma but Shell plc.
“PUMA is our local fuel supplier. Puma Malawi despite the global fuel supply challenges, they have been able to support us with fuel supply as hinted in an earlier announcement on our major route Johannesburg that includes today’s return fuel uplift and we value their support greatly.
“We believe Puma Malawi has put in place enough measures to ensure this support continues to come to Malawi Airlines as Malawi is our base,” reads part of the statement.
The company added that Shell plc (RSA), its supplier at O.R. Tambo International Airport, in South Africa has had challenges in receiving fuel supply into Johannesburg due to the recent flooding which affected their road and rail networks.
“They are also working around the clock to resolve this.
“The technical team in RSA is working on the affected areas to make the road and rail network serviceable again so that the fuel supply is back to normal as soon as possible,” reads part of the Malawi Airlines statement.
Malawi Airlines has since apologised to Puma Malawi and Puma Aviation Energy Group for any damage caused by the earlier statement.
Earlier this week, the airline was accused of operating as a minibus after it rescheduled a flight several times and ended up leaving a passenger behind.
